Also, I'm unemployed. So you should expect me to spam the shit out of this blog. LOL.


Interesting anecdote: Whenever I need to put the kids to bed and they just won't go down for the count, I fire up the Nightmare Before Christmas and they are out almost immediately, lol. Jack the Pumpkin King is the best.

For all you sports folks (ok, for all you non sports folks), an interesting set of circumstances is occurring this weekend. The Seahawks are the first team to ever get into the playoffs with a losing record (won their division at 7-9, which is funny in and of itself).. but they did the impossible last weekend and beat the reigning superbowl champion Saints as the biggest playoff underdog in the history of the league, by nearly TWICE the margin of odds (11 points) as the previous underdog (6 points)... who, ironically, were the Saints roughly 10 years ago.

Now, this weekend, the Packers have beaten the #1 seed (Atlanta).. SOOOOOO... if the Seahawks are able to beat the Chicago Bears tomorrow (which they did, in Chicago, earlier this year).. then the NFC Championship Game (for the right to play in the Superbowl!!!) will be played in Seattle, to a team that qualified with a 7-9 record... LOL!

I'm cheering like mad for it to happen, just to make the history books and for the absurdity of it all. Of course, whoever wins the NFC and goes to the Superbowl is just going to get absolutely smoked by either the Steelers or the Patriots.

Other NFL oddity that no one cares about.. the Raiders are the first team in NFL history to go undefeated in their division (6-0) and not make the playoffs. The Chiefs went 2-4 in the division but 8-2 outside of the division.. and got absolutely trucked in the first round of the playoffs, losing by 30 points.

DID I MENTION MINECRAFT YET? SOOO ADDICTIVE! LOL. The urge to build outrageously huge and elaborate structures is overwhelming. Also, connecting three dozen autocannons and vaporizing zombies is fun.

Ok, enough from me.

Why do I always post right before 9pm? lol

Speaking of Minecrack, it would be awesome if we all got a server going together! I'm tired of playing in servers where griefers TNT your shit after you spend a lot of time crafting and constructing. That sucks balls.

Hell, it would even be fun to do some dungeon crawls with y'all! :)

WHAT THE POTATO?

Hey everybody! Man, I've been away from the blog for too frigging long. I feel like I'm slowly coming out of a coma / fog I was stuck in for nearly 3 years working at that place. I thought making the big money and being Mr. Executive was the life I wanted, but now I realize the cost of that was too big to bear. Strange. So, I left and am now unemployed, the wife is only working part time as a teacher (raking in the dough! lol).. But we're super happy even with all the uncertainty involved in being poor.

From six figures to food stamps and loving it? I dunno, seems kinda long for a book title.

Right now, I'm just loving being Mr. Mom and hanging out at the house. I'm slowly turning back into a human being.

Thoughts for the future: MBA? Teach economics / business at college maybe? Start a pub and brew with Eric! LOL.

Anyone else tried out Minecraft? Man, I was suspicious but I gave it a shot and WOW is it addicting. So simple but at the same time very complex. Like digital legos but with zombies and other baddies trying to eat you. lol.

Happy New Years, Action Teamers!

I hope all is well with you and yours.

| Slaughing it up...

There's a limited edition free expansion to Small World from Days of Wonder - you just have to pay shipping ~ $5 bucks. Order one, do it to it:

Necromancer

Didn't know you work nights/weekends now Rude. That sucks! Definitely try to get GenCon at least, we'll celebrate with a chilidog at Colonel GHOULSby's!

I would love to go to both cons but it all depends on if I'm granted the vacation time I've requested. I'll try to find out before the end of the month, but they're pretty horrible on letting me know if I'll get it or not. I work nights and weekends now, so it can be tough.

| Update, Shmupdate

Let's see here:

- Started classes for my masters in IT management on Monday, two of 'em at the same time.

- Starting a routing class at the local community college Monday nights for 4 hours a night in Feb.

- Still working.

- Should have bottled my first batch of homebrew by the time you read this, a nice pale ale. Well, I say nice prematurely, the recipe SAYS that it is a pale ale, we'll see what I actually made...

- Next batch is a red ale that should be cooked up possibly even tomorrow!

- Heading out to Big Sur for a little 7th anniversary retreat. To quote Ferris Bueller: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." 7 years. Holy smokes!

- My new dream is to open a brewery. Santa Cruz Ale Works is seriously a block from my work and now that I know this I am taunted every morning as I drive to work and I see the steam pouring out of their building during brew day.

| Your Journey Ends Here... Turn to pg 209

Gencon's a pass for me. May is the next kublacon though. Who's going to that? Pre-registration is also by Feb 28th. just fyi.

| Garfield's Hell

- Woke up in Australia at 7:00 Monday morning after a really bad night's sleep, maybe 3 hours.
- From 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM was packing/travelling
- At 4:30 PM got on the 14-hour flight, slept about 3 hours
- Landed in SF, still Monday, except 10:30 AM
- It has been Monday for 27 hours so far!

Nice to be back, though.

GenCon

Badge registration is coming up! January 23rd is badge registration and on the 25th housing registration opens up. We should know who's in by then so that we can get the appropriate number of hotel rooms.

Last I heard: Me, Deaf Mute, SteveI'mSteve, Pumpkin, and Blackheart were in.

Happy New Year's everyone! We're in Melbourne. The weather has gone crazy and it's 40 degrees Celsius which is 300 Fahrenheit or so. It's New Year's in a couple of hours so we're going to wander down to Federation Square, where they've got a fireworks display. (We're staying near the city center, so it's a quick walk.)

Australia is great!

| RLTSBDC

Things going on in my life right now -



Work is definitely getting a little frustrating. I feel I'm getting a little complacent with my old age with dealing with people. Or just not dealing with them at all. Work-wise things are alright. I'm pretty good at the job. So far, I managed to correct our inventory issue, generate new marketing plans, and brought on some new business. Month to month our revenues have been steadily increasing by about 10-15%. Next year, I expect some of my larger deals to pan out, which will basically put our company on the roadmap as far as our pie-share. Somehow though, I have not made any significant friends at work. I don't want to be well-liked, not running for president. Work isn't a place for a popularity contest. But I certainly dont want to be one of the un-liked or at least not so popular persons. On the brighter side, I am a really organized person. My cubicle is spotless and everything is neatly squared away. One of my co-workers brought a Hello Kitty Toaster oven. Nothing beats the smell of toasted bread in the morning especially in the office.



Dating scene - Gonna try taking up salsa dancing and then signing on to Date.com. A friend told me that stuff really works. On the other hand, I really dig this chick in Washington DC but with her job there and mine here, I doubt either one of us would be interested in moving. Provided that we even start dating. Salsa, though is a great way to meet some Latina ladies so i heard.



WOW - Saw a documentary on addicted gamers who spend every minute of their time online, raiding, leveling, grinding etc. The show was actually filmed before TBC where levels were capped at 60, and before the vanilla days. It doesn't really scare me from going back to playing, and with every work related stress issue, I edge ever so closer to the virtual world.

| RDWHAHB

Jael, shoot me a txt from whatever phone you use and then I'll update my phone! I love to txt.

Happy New Years everyone! Be safe tomorrow and have fun. I think I'll be playing it low-key as usual this year.

Started up my first batch of beer last weekend - it's fermenting away. Brown Porter. I had a couple stages of hops and used an extract. In about a week or so I'll rack it to the 2nd fermenter. So should be ready by the con! :) I've already learned so much doing this one batch and I'm itching to do my next.

Relax, don't worry, have a home brew.

PS: check out the Pliny the Edgar reviews on BA - UNCRER - I'm gonna get some more this weekend. I think it was $5 or $6 a bottle. Bevmo doesn't carry it (or apparently any of the Dog Head Fish Balls stuff) so back to Bristol Farms.

never got the text man... you gotta stop dialing those Sexting numbers! Don't get tricked. those girls don't love you, they just love money.

| Greetings form the land UP OVER ;)

Hope you guys are having an amazing honeymoon down unda! Don't overdose on Fosters and BBQ-Shrimp! :) I bet it's beautiful down there, can't wait to see the pics.

Had a X-Mas Eve EVE Game Night last night. Texted you Jael but I'm just never sure if the number I have for you is good or not. We first sampled a bunch of different brews I picked up that night then we played Dixit, Galaxy Trucker, and Ravenloft. Full game of drunken Dixit (which was pretty hilarious and strange) but then more like demo/sample versions of the last two games because everyone was too drunk/tired. Good times.

Happy Holidays!